Clean Clothes
by HR always live on
Summary: Ruth has been working so hard recently that she hasn't been able to do her washing. Meaning she has to wear clothes which she doesn't normally like. A bit of pointless fluff
1. Chapter 1

Ruth had been so tired due to the demands at work she hadn't done any of her washing recently. This meant that she was down to the bare essentials. She rummaged through her wardrobe trying to find something to wear to work. Something. Anything. All her skirts were dirty but she had managed to find some suitable black trousers that would do the job. The only thing she could find to wear with her trousers was a white short sleeved blouse which wasn't her favourite item of clothing by a long shot. It was too thin, it cut her wrong and she felt it was unflattering but she was out of options.

Sighing, she buttoned it up and put her coat on. She was late for Thames House anyway so she didn't even bother with breakfast before she locked her door.

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"So what disaster is it now?" Ruth asked as she emerged from the pods.

"Nothing," Beth said flicking through a stack of files. "We're just recovering from yesterday. The Prime Minister did not appreciate being kidnapped by an angry Russian splinter group."

"Yeah well, I didn't appreciate not being able to leave the grid until eleven last night either," Ruth said unbuttoning her coat and draping it over the back of her chair as her computer booted itself up. Beth noticed her slightly unusual attire but wisely didn't say anything. After the kidnap of the most important politician in the country, section D were drowning in paperwork so they were busy. However Ruth only made it to midmorning until she burst into Harry's office with some files that he needed to sign.

Harry was left temporarily speechless by Ruth's sudden appearance. He had never seen her in anything that wasn't a skirt before and her black trousers were hugging her legs in a way he had only previously dreamed of, never seen. In those brief few seconds before either of them spoke he admired the way her white shirt clung to all her curves. He studied her pale and smooth arms that were exposed by the short sleeves and wondered how he could never have seen her perfect skin before. His attention turned to the V shaped neckline which hinted so subtly at her breasts underneath. Breasts his fingers ached to touch.

"I need you to sign these," Ruth said bringing him out of his daydream and putting the files on his desk.

"Okay," Harry said letting his eyes roam over her for a few more precious seconds before picking up his pen. Ruth had noticed the way Harry's eyes were lingering over her and she felt absurdly pleased by his reaction. She had changed her mind. She no longer hated this blouse, not when it made Harry look at her like that.

"There you go," Harry said, handing the files back to her. She managed to let her fingers brush his briefly as the files switched hands. Ruth walked away from him and left his office. Harry suddenly had a new found appreciation for her trousers as they hugged her curves even better from behind. He got up from his desk and watched as she walked back to her desk. Part of him felt grateful she had never worn trousers before. Because if she had, he would never have been able to concentrate at work.

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The day was slow. Apart from catching up on paperwork there was absolutely nothing to do and Dimitri was climbing the walls with boredom. Even Harry who had been in his office (and staring at Ruth constantly on the CCTV) had noticed. He came over and spoke to Dimitri.

"Go home," Harry said firmly. "You're making us all crazy so go home until we have a gun running incident, a bomb attack or a boat that needs to be captained."

"Fine," Dimitri said, not needing much more persuasion. He quickly left the grid and Ruth sighed in relief. He had been annoying her for the last hour. Ruth knew Harry was watching her so she repaid the favour when he walked back to his office. She smirked briefly and went to the ladies to make some adjustments.

Ruth wondered if she was pushing her luck but for once she didn't care. She undid the top button on her shirt and viewed herself critically in the mirror. Then she undid the next one. No, that was too much, she thought and adjusted it so just the one was undone. She rummaged in her bag and got her mascara out. She hardly wore any makeup usually and this morning she hadn't had time to put any on. But she always carried the bare essentials in her bag, just in case. After that she put her almost clear lip gloss on. It had hardly any colour in it which was why she liked it.

When she was finished she had a final look in the mirror and began to reconsider her button. Maybe she really was pushing it. Don't be a coward, she said to herself. You know the way he looks at you, especially today so don't be a coward. After her little pep talk to herself she took a deep breath and left the bathroom to go back to the grid, wondering what she was getting herself into.

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_This is a bit of randomness that I wrote yesterday while in bed ill so I'm not entirely sure it makes sense. Hope to post more in the next couple of days. Reviews are wonderful. xxx_


	2. Chapter 2

_Just a short update._

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Sitting at her desk, Ruth had managed to get sucked into her work again after about half an hour. She hadn't realised that Harry's eyes were permanently on the CCTV watching her. And he _had _noticed that more of her skin was on show. Five pm came and went and slowly everyone filed out of the grid. Ruth waited until everyone had left except Harry. With her heart beating rather faster than usual she headed into Harry's office.

"I think I'm going to go home," Ruth said carefully, watching for his reaction. "Unless there's anything else you need me to do?" she asked, her voice holding just the hint of a question. Harry's brain was running fast, trying to find an excuse to make her stay on the grid a little longer. He couldn't think of anything to say so instead he got up from his chair and walked closer to her.

"No, there's nothing for you to do here," Harry said quietly.

"Oh," she replied feeling disappointed.

"Ruth?" he said in a tone of voice that almost stopped her heart.

"Yes?" she said wondering what on earth was going to happen next. And more than a little excited to find out. His hand rose to her face before he could control it, his thumb caressing her skin. Their eyes were locked together and neither could break the connection.

"Ruth," he repeated not really needing an answer. He had only ever spoken her name in that tone once before. At Havensworth, years before when she had been too scared to find out what could happen. But she wasn't scared anymore. She could see what was going to happen a second before it did. He leaned in towards her and kissed her. It had taken so many years to get here that Harry took his time, to make sure she was enjoying it just as much as he was. She was responding under his touch enthusiastically which thrilled him no end.

He backed away from her for a second, surprised to find his hands on the small of her back, feeling the heat of her skin through the thin fabric of her blouse. He was even more surprised to feel her hands under his jacket pulling him closer to her. And pleased. He didn't pause for any longer after he realised that her fingertips were still moving slowly against his back. He tightened his arms around her to bring her close and pressed his lips against hers again.

Ruth felt a shock go through her body as her back suddenly hit the office wall. She hadn't even realised Harry was pushing her there but that was fine with her. As she was kissing him passionately she felt a hand drift down her face and move slowly down her neck. His fingertips had reached down to the point where her shirt was still buttoned. He stopped kissing her and looked deeply into her eyes as his hand slowly began unbuttoning her blouse. She wasn't going to say anything to stop him. She actually felt incapable of forming words at all.

His eyes were burning into hers, the desire clear to see as another button came undone. He made sure he was touching her newly revealed skin as he drew her in for another kiss. A long, passionate, intense, knee weakening kiss. Ruth stopped him by simply turning her head. She saw a look of confusion quickly followed by an expression of pain and rejection on his face. Ruth felt guilty after seeing his reaction and put a comforting palm to his face.

"Just not here," she murmured, pressing her lips against his softly and reassuringly. "I would rather continue this somewhere else. Somewhere where I'm not reminded of terrorist threats."

"Continue?" he couldn't resist questioning. She smiled and blushed at the same time.

"Yes," she said simply. "Continue." She felt her face go even hotter when Harry's gaze went down to her almost completely unbuttoned shirt and stayed there, studying her bare skin for several long seconds.

"Okay," Harry said, his eyes staring at hers again. "But just before we go…" he said tailing off as his lips found hers yet again. Ruth thought that was a very good idea and allowed herself to enjoy his mouth on hers.

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_Thanks for all the great reviews. I'm feeling a bit better so more to come soon._


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for the reviews everyone._

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Ruth felt unaccountably nervous, sitting next to Harry as they were being driven home. To his house. Harry could tell she was anxious and held her hand without looking at her, rubbing patterns on the back of her hand gently. Suddenly the car drew to a halt and Ruth could feel her courage quickly vanishing. Harry looked at her with those eyes that could make her do anything. She quickly got her act together and got out of the car, Harry following a second later. The car sped off leaving the two of them in an awkward silence.

"Look, I can call you a taxi," Harry said, sensing her uneasiness.

"No," she said seriously.

"Its no trouble," he said, not wanting her to leave after they'd seemed to be making some progress but not wanting to push her into something she didn't want either.

"Just unlock your front door," she suggested. He smiled briefly and put the key in the lock. As soon as it opened an alarm started beeping and Ruth watched as he typed in a code to stop it going off. 1870623 she noted. Just in case she needed it at some point in the future.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" he asked as they moved through to the kitchen.

"Er, yes," Ruth replied briefly. "Tea." Harry nodded and switched the kettle on. As he was getting the mugs out she watched him carefully. She was enjoying the little scene of domesticity as he simply poured hot water into their mugs. Ruth got shaken out of her daydream when he passed her the mug of tea, their fingers brushing lightly against each other.

They fell into conversation about the latest German terror group they were following, simply because Ruth couldn't think about anything else to talk about. Harry sighed and stared at her.

"I'll get you a taxi," he said firmly. "I can see you're uncomfortable. This was probably a bad idea."

"No," she said instantly, grabbing his arm. She desperately didn't want to leave. "Don't make me go," she whispered.

"Believe me, I don't want you to go," he said sincerely.

"So what do you want?" Ruth asked. Harry didn't answer straight away, mainly because the honest response was a whole host of things that had been running through his imagination for the last thirty minutes.

"You," he answered after a pause. "I want you." Ruth let a small smile hover over her lips before she pressed them to his. It took all of three seconds for her to remember how intense it felt when Harry was kissing her. How incredible. She suddenly found herself with her back against the wall. Again.

"So this is how you like your women is it?" Ruth teased him, breathlessly after a moment. "Pinned up against the wall with no escape?" He could tell she was winding him up because her breath was whispering against his jaw, and she was speaking in between kisses.

"Women? No," Harry said in a ragged breath. "You? Absolutely." She didn't have time to say anything else as he kissed her passionately, his hands moving under her shirt, softly touching her skin. She sighed as he sent shivers through her body. There was no way she was going to back out of this. Not when he was making her feel so good.

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_Probably one more chapter to come. Hope you are enjoying this._


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for all the lovely reviews. They make my day_

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Ruth woke up feeling incredibly happy when she realised her head was resting on Harry's chest and his arm was around her waist. She kissed his chest lightly, intending to drift off to sleep again when Harry rolled over her.

"Good morning," he murmured kissing her lips softly in the morning light.

"Mm," Ruth replied, pulling the duvet closer to her and closing her eyes. She smiled when she felt Harry's hand brushing her hair out of her face. "Let me sleep," she said quietly.

"It's eight a.m." Harry said. "We should be getting to Thames House soon."

"Well, it isn't my fault I'm so exhausted after last night," Ruth replied with a small smile. Harry didn't reply and tightened his arms around her waist. Ruth turned to face him and kissed him slowly and passionately, enjoying the feeling of their bare skin touching softly under the duvet.

"If you're trying to persuade me to get up you're going about it in entirely the wrong way," she said resting a hand on his chest and feeling his steady heartbeat pounding reassuringly underneath her fingertips.

"Okay," Harry said moving away from her. "You can stay in bed as long as you like but I have to get to work. They will notice if I'm not there. I am the boss after all."

"No, no, no," Ruth said grabbing his arm so he couldn't leave her. "I've been waiting forever for this and now you're just leaving?"

"Forever?" he questioned leaning closer to her, causing her to blush.

"Yes," she agreed as he kissed her again firmly.

"I am going to Thames House," he said. "But I mean it when I said you could stay here. As long as you like."

"Okay," Ruth said, knowing when she was beaten, curling up in bed as Harry began to get dressed. Just before leaving he leant over her and kissed her briefly on the lips.

"No, not yet," Ruth murmured as he drew away from her. Harry smiled and kissed her again, longer this time. "Go save some lives," she muttered as she collapsed back into bed in a haze of sleep. Harry stayed long enough for her sleeping figure to make him smile once more then left his house, leaving his heart behind him.

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_Hope you enjoyed the fluff! A last review would make my day. xxx_


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